xvi FOREWORD 



Apia, Western Samoa, when a gasoline explosion occurred while 

 supplies of fuel were being stored aboard. 



The following pages sketch briefly the earlier work of this 

 famous research ship in her quest for scientific facts, and give a 

 narrative of the seventh and last cruise. 



There was a scientific staff of eight, in addition to a full com- 

 plement of sailing oflScers and crew, numbering seventeen. On 

 leaving Washington, May 1, 1928, the members of the party and 

 their fields of research were: Captain J. P. Ault, commander of 

 the Carnegie, and chief of scientific staff; Wilfred C. Parkinson, 

 senior scientific officer, atmospheric electricity and photography; 

 Oscar W. Torreson, navigator and executive officer, magnetism 

 and navigation; Floyd M. Soule, observer and electrical expert, 

 magnetism and physical oceanography; H. R. Seiwell, chemist 

 and biologist, oceanography; J. H. Paul, surgeon and observer, 

 meteorology and oceanography; W. E. Scott, observer, nagiva- 

 tion, magnetism, and commissary; and Lawrence A. Jones, radio 

 operator and observer, radio investigations and magnetism. 



The sailing staff included Albert Erickson, first mate, C. E. 

 Leyer, chief engineer, and F. Lyngdorf, steward — all three had 

 served throughout the previous cruise. 



The scientific program was carried out successfully; computed 

 values of the various observations were forwarded from port to 

 port in such a form that they could be immediately utilized by 

 workers ashore, and by the hydrographic offices of the world. 

 The prompt publication of results necessitated continuous ap- 

 plication to duty on the part of the staff, whether at sea or in 

 port. But this also made the expedition scientifically successful, 

 although the vessel and all its equipment were later destroyed. 

 On the other hand, it may be said that the work during the cruise 

 was only a beginning, for it will take several years to analyze 

 and correlate further these data. 



Captain Ault's death deprives the sciences of oceanography 

 and terrestrial magnetism of a promising leader at the height of 

 his powers. No more fitting monument can be erected to the 

 memory of a man than the imperishable records of his service 

 for science. In twenty -five years of research as one of the staff 



